Sunday, January 15, 2012

Build Day 8: Prototypes

We tested several of our prototypes today. We're moving forward with the design and the tests all look to be going well. See our progress below.

Ball Elevator Prototype

The first system we tested this morning was the elevator. We made a prototype out of a hand drill, PVC, wood and 3/8" thread all. It made a for a really good example of how the elevator on the real robot will lift ball up to the shooting device. With this setup we should be able to test the proper amount of compression on the ball in the elevator.

Shooter Prototype

This is latest revision of our shooter prototype. It still needs a lot of work but we are getting closer to a real shooter. We need to increase the distance we can shoot and build the real version to be completely consistent.

Barrier Crossing

This is our most complete system. We designed wheel drops for our chassis from last year that allow it to climb over the barrier. It goes over relatively smoothly. This year's frame will be built using the same setup.

Rest of the Day
We made a lot of progress on the first day of Week 2.

We cut and painted this year's frame.

We started manufacturing motor mounts.

We began developing the camera system.

Construction on the bridge device prototype also commenced this afternoon.

- Allen Gregory

“Usage is like oxygen for ideas. You can never fully anticipate how an audience is going to react to something you’ve created until it’s out there. That means every moment you’re working on something without it being in the public it’s actually dying, deprived of the oxygen of the real world.” - Matt Mullenweg